Warren Buffett He said he preferred to deploy capital in Japan rather than Taiwan, citing how geopolitics prompted his firm to cut stakes in the island’s chip-maker giant.
Buffett told Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s annual meeting on Saturday that the Taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company is one of the best managed and most important companies in the world. “There is nobody in the chip industry who is in their league,” he said.
That hasn’t stopped Berkshire from reducing its holdings TSMC That’s an 86% drop after it reported $5 billion in investment in November during the fourth quarter — a move Buffett has attributed to rising tensions between China and Taiwan.
Buffett urged China and the US to rein in their rivalry.
“It is essential that both China and the United States understand what the game is and that you cannot play too hard,” he told the meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. “Both places are going to be competitive and both can prosper.”
Speaking at the same event, Buffett’s longtime business partner Charlie Munger called for “mutual kindness” between the two superpowers.
TSMC climbed up to 1.8% in Taipei on Monday morning.
Buffett recently indicated a desire to invest more in Japan after increasing stakes in trading companies there. Berkshire now owns 7.4% of those businesses, but won’t go above 9%, he said.
Greg AbelBuffett’s heir apparent, who joined him on a trip to Japan last month, called them an “incredible” investment.
Buffett said he would like to introduce Abel to executives from five business houses, believing there will be continued investment and relationships there.
Japan’s business houses – or “sogo shosha” – have deep roots in the country’s economy, dating back hundreds of years, and providing everything from food to energy.
Shares of Itochu Corp rose 1.5% in Tokyo on Monday morning. Mitsubishi Corp and Sumitomo Corp also gained, while Marubeni Corp was little changed and Mitsui & Co fell.
“The Japanese thing was simple,” Buffett said. “I love looking at companies. I love looking at statistics about companies.”
Buffett told Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s annual meeting on Saturday that the Taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company is one of the best managed and most important companies in the world. “There is nobody in the chip industry who is in their league,” he said.
That hasn’t stopped Berkshire from reducing its holdings TSMC That’s an 86% drop after it reported $5 billion in investment in November during the fourth quarter — a move Buffett has attributed to rising tensions between China and Taiwan.
Buffett urged China and the US to rein in their rivalry.
“It is essential that both China and the United States understand what the game is and that you cannot play too hard,” he told the meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. “Both places are going to be competitive and both can prosper.”
Speaking at the same event, Buffett’s longtime business partner Charlie Munger called for “mutual kindness” between the two superpowers.
TSMC climbed up to 1.8% in Taipei on Monday morning.
Buffett recently indicated a desire to invest more in Japan after increasing stakes in trading companies there. Berkshire now owns 7.4% of those businesses, but won’t go above 9%, he said.
Greg AbelBuffett’s heir apparent, who joined him on a trip to Japan last month, called them an “incredible” investment.
Buffett said he would like to introduce Abel to executives from five business houses, believing there will be continued investment and relationships there.
Japan’s business houses – or “sogo shosha” – have deep roots in the country’s economy, dating back hundreds of years, and providing everything from food to energy.
Shares of Itochu Corp rose 1.5% in Tokyo on Monday morning. Mitsubishi Corp and Sumitomo Corp also gained, while Marubeni Corp was little changed and Mitsui & Co fell.
“The Japanese thing was simple,” Buffett said. “I love looking at companies. I love looking at statistics about companies.”